The Fear
| The Fear | |
|---|---|
| Lily Allen | |
| publication | December 9, 2008 |
| length | 3:27 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Lily Allen, Greg Kurstin |
| album | It's not me, it's you |
The Fear (also known as I Don't Know ) is a song by British pop singer Lily Allen . The song was released on December 9, 2008 as the lead single from Allen's second studio album It's Not Me, It's You in the UK. In Germany it was published on January 23, 2009.
Background and inspiration
The original plan was to release Everyone's At It as the lead single on the album, but the final decision was for The Fear . Lily Allen released a demo version of the song entitled I Don't Know on her MySpace account, along with the single I Could Say in April 2008.
About the song's inspiration, the singer explained, “I was walking down a street in the middle of England when I saw a girl of about eight with short hot pants and a tight-fitting top with her mother. 'That's not true,' I thought. And I can say that she was the kind of girl who wants to become famous later. It was definitely that culture where I came from. But I don't think that culture like that is healthy. "
“I don't know what's right and what's real anymore. And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore. When do you think it will all become clear? 'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear. "
Use in the media
The song was used in the 2009 British TV drama Skins .
criticism
The song received mostly positive reviews from critics. Michael Menachem from Billboard Magazine praised the lyrics of the song and Allen's vocals. The BBC complimented the song on its "exquisite production". Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph said Lily Allen "shows good observation and sweet musicality."
Music video
The music video for The Fear was filmed at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire , UK . Directed by Nez . It premiered in the UK on December 4, 2008 on Channel 4 . The video reportedly cost £ 50,000.
While the video was being shot, MTV documented it . In the interview, Lily Allen explains, “I wanted to do a dance routine when it was more people who did it than me, but I was part of it. Actually, I find shooting a video very annoying, after all, while you're writing the song, you don't worry about what the music video looks like. "
reception
It was the second number-one hit in Great Britain , as well as the singer's second entry on the US charts.
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
12 (17 weeks) | 17th |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
20th (16 weeks) | 16 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
14th (26 weeks) | 26th |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
1 (22 weeks) | 22nd |
 United States (Billboard)
|
80 (10 weeks) | 10 |
Awards for music sales
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
 platinum
|
70,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
 gold
|
20,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| All in all |
1 × gold 2 × platinum |
690,000 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.gigwise.com/news/42525/lily-allen-releases-new-material-online
- ↑ http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/A/Allen_Lily/2009/04/24/9229221-sun.html
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews-singles/the-fear-1003936396.story#/bbcom/reviews-singles/the-fear-1003936396.story ( Memento from February 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hwgb
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/neilmccormick/4317076/Lily-Allen-Its-Not-Me-Its-You-Pop-CD-of-the-week-review.html
- ↑ http://www.mtv.com/videos/lily-allen/335781/the-fear.jhtml
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1600819/lily-allen-overcomes-fear-dancing-video.jhtml
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ http://aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupageshttpwww.aria.com.aupageshttpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accr.htm
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/
